MILILANI, O‘ahu — Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) athletes had a dominant showing at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) state championships on Friday and Saturday, as three Hilo-area athletes and a Konawaena High relay team won gold medals.
Hilo High senior Kekaihulali Halpern placed first in the girls 800 meter run with a new PR of 2:16.02. It was her second HHSAA gold medal for running this school year, as she also placed first in the girls cross country state championship last fall.
Waiakea’s pair of record-breaking pole vaulters — Shelbey Cabais-Fernandez and Analissa Paresa — capped off their epic season in appropriate fashion, each winning gold for their respective categories. The duo also broke BIIF vault records at the island championships on May 4.
Cabais-Fernandez PR’d at an impressive height of 14-feet and ten inches — beating runner-up Kana‘i Gibson of KS-Kapalama by six inches to win the boys’ category. Paresa also dominated her competition, clearing 12 feet to place first and lead the runner-up by ten inches.
“Just seeing them up there made me so proud,” Waiakea pole vault coach Sherman Viernes said. “All of the hard work they put in, all of the time, the sweat and everything. It was a good run and a good season.”
Other top BIIF finishers
Plenty of other BIIF athletes turned heads at states over the weekend. HPA’s Elaina Head, one of the top Big Isle field athletes of the season, placed fourth overall in the girls high jump with a 5’4 leap. The junior also placed 18th in the triple jump (32-9.50).
Kealakehe junior Layla Grace, one of the top long jumpers on the Big Island this season, placed ninth in the event with a 15’7 mark.
Head’s teammate, senior Brooke Samura, placed fifth in the girls 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.16s.
Kona sophomore speedster Violet Schaut, who dominated BIIF competition in sprinting events in 2024, claimed silver medals in the girls 100-meter (12.37s) and 400-meter dash (56.49s).
Waveriders long-distance phenom Elisa Childers secured a fifth-place finish in the girls 3000-meter run, racing in 10:53.92.
In girls relays, the Wildcats’ team of Schaut, Jazmin Fillmore, Rustee Meyers and Dasha Kala won gold in the 4×400-meter race in 4:01.80. Hilo’s team of Kekaihulali and Kekaimalino Halpern, Maya Schneider and Aneala Sibayan won silver in the 4×800-meter relay (9:53.10).
Over in the boys competition, Kea‘au’s Sean Randall highlighted the BIIF in the field events with a fourth-place finish in the long jump (21-02.25) and a sixth-place finish in the triple jump (41-1.50).
Kona’s Laanui Meyers, the BIIF boys’ top hurdler, placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.60s.
In the running events, Laupahoehoe’s Tazein Sykes earned sixth in the 400-meter dash in 50.66s. HPA’s Drake Fricke and Waiakea’s Shane Tominaga notched personal records in the 3000-meter run. Fricke placed fourth with a 9:03.49 finish, while Tominaga placed right behind him in fifth with a 9:07:04 time.
In the relay department, Kona placed fourth in the 4×400-meter race — as Meyers, Tavoi Filiva’a, Aiden Akina and Carmine Taetuna-Fautanu finished in 3:28.65.